Lifeboat Foundation

Could augmented reality headsets help helicopter rescue pilots to fly more safely in extreme weather conditions — including heavy fog — in which they have poor visibility? That’s the question set out by a group of researchers at Germany’s Technical University of Munich (TUM). Their answer? An overwhelming yes.

Carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Helicopter Technology, the project uses a helicopter-mounted LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system to create virtual images of upcoming hazards and other obstacles. This signal data is then processed onboard the helicopter and transmitted to the transparent head-mounted display worn by pilots.

“Databases containing obstacles and terrain data are used together with real-time data from sensors in order to substitute the lost visual cues in degraded visual environment” Franz Viertler, a professor of aeronautical engineering who worked on the project, told Digital Trends. “The other part of the research then deals with how to best visualize the data for the pilot in order to enable a safe flight. The head-mounted display is a perfect means to do this, because the pilots can keep their eyes out of the window, while they get additional information about hazardous obstacles.”

Continue reading “Augmented-reality headsets could help helicopter rescue pilots fly in dense fog” »

Finally, could we see no more confusions in our voice interfaces.

Perfecting voice interfaces.

The entire mobile industry is moving rapidly towards voice as the primary input element for our devices.

Continue reading “Kopin’s Whisper Chip: Positioned To Enable Flawless Voice User Interfaces For Millions Of Users Globally” »

Podcast with “Andreessen Horowitz Distinguished Visiting Professor of Computer Science … Fei-Fei Li [who publishes under Li Fei-Fei], associate professor at Stanford University.”

Are you an avid supporter of aging research and a keen longevity activist?
The Biogerontology Research Foundation is offering select summer internships for talented individuals. You’d join a passionate and supportive team in researching diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic strategies; advising a panel of investors in developing a roadmap to promote longevity science and related technologies across the globe.

The advertised positions are 3 month internships, with the possibility of continuing afterwards. Free accommodation will be provided for in London, alongside a negotiable salary.

The Biogerontology Research Foundation is a UK based think tank dedicated to aging research and accelerating its application worldwide.

Continue reading “Aging Research Internships Available 2” »

“May you live in interesting times,” resonates with many involved in the metal 3D printing industry, an ironic phrase regarded by some as a curse. Magnus René, CEO of the Arcam Group AB, might one of the last to agree. In the 3D metal printing market Arcam are unique. Holding propriety Electron Beam Melting (EBM) patents the company is at the forefront of cutting edge industries such as aerospace and medicine. I asked Arcam’s CEO about some of these developments.

René compares today’s additive manufacturing landscape to an earlier career experience in another industry at the frontier of technology.

“I was with a company that developed and released the [semiconductor] printers that are used still to this day for manufacture. Those were also interesting times, we really felt that we were changing the way things were manufactured.”

Continue reading “3D Printing Metal Interview with Arcam CEO Magnus René” »

Nice.

Augmented reality and art combine in a new exhibition.

By Peter Graham

Continue reading “Artist Scarlett Raven Combines Oil Painting with AR in The Danger Tree” »

Fog, blizzards, gusts of wind — poor weather can often make the operation of rescue helicopters a highly risky business, and sometimes even impossible. A new helmet-mounted display, developed by researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), may in the future be able to help pilots detect hazards at an early stage, even when their visibility is severely impaired: the information required to do this is created in an on-board computer and imported into digital eye glasses.

A new study has shown that this augmented reality improves the performance of pilots.

Thick clouds hang over the Tegernsee. The range of sight is just a few hundred meters. Under normal circumstances, a helicopter would not be allowed to take off in such weather — the danger that the pilot would not be able to react in time to a construction crane, a power line or a mountain would be too great.

A team of researchers led by professor Jean-Christophe Marine (VIB-KU Leuven) has identified NEAT1, a non-coding RNA, as a potential therapeutic target in the fight against cancer. In collaboration with the Cédric Blanpain lab (ULB), VIB researchers have shown that NEAT1 plays an important role in the survival of highly dividing cells — and in particular of cancer cells. These findings can help develop new drugs that target NEAT1, in order to kill cancer cells more effectively.

As a non-coding RNA, NEAT1 is not translated into a protein. It does however contribute to the formation of so-called ‘paraspeckles’, subnuclear particles that can be found in the cell nuclei of cancer cells. The function of these particles has remained obscure. Although highly conserved through evolution, NEAT1 appears to be dispensable for normal embryonic development and adult life as mice lacking NEAT1 are viable and healthy.

Guarding the genome

Continue reading “Researchers reveal new therapeutic avenue in the fight against cancer” »

Get ready.

China will launch the world’s first quantum satellite next month to demonstrate a series of advanced technologies such as hacker-proof communications and quantum teleportation.

Ground testing and quality checks on the satellite had finished at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and it would depart for the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Inner Mongolia early this month for a launch aboard a Long March 2D rocket in the middle of next month, according to a report on the central government’s website posted on Friday.

Continue reading “China to launch ‘hack-proof’ quantum satellite next month” »